Toy and puzzle.



' Patented Nov. 1:,1902. L. E? DE MARAIS.

TOY AND PUZZILE. ppliation filed Apr. 14, 1902 wzrzmssm- I I re 3r 4210mm:

UNITE LEMUEL E. DE MARAIS, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

TOY AND PUZZLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 713,072, dated November 11, 1902. Application filedApril 14', 1902. 'Serial No. 102,892. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEMUEL E. DE MARAIs, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county otRamsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toys and'Puzzles; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures .of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in toys of the class combining also a puzzle of interest to both children and grown persons, as it afiords some exercise of judgment and skilful use of the hands and lungs.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of the complete invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of the toy with the blowpipe modified. Fig. 3 is a side view of the device with its upper part modified. Fig. 4 is a side view of the device with another modification of its top.

Referring to the drawings by referencenumerals, 1 is a shallow vessel, preferably of circular form. About centrally upon the bottom 2 of said vessel I provide an embossment or tower 3, having in its top a cavity 4, which in the simplest form of the toy may be very shallow and flared out to nothing at the edges of the tower, as indicated by the dotted line 4 in Fig. 4, and the outer sides of the tower may be inclined, as in Fig. 3; but I prefer to make the sides of thetower plumb and also to make the cavity 4 with plumb sides, forming a guard 5 with aperturesfi, while centrally upon the bottom 14 of the cavity is provided a smaller guard or inclosure 7, having a side gate 8.

Up along one side of the tower is provided a vertically-disposed groove or guide 9, at the base of which is an aperture 10 in the bottom of the vessel. Communicating with this aperture is a blowpipe or tube 11, which, according'to the gradeof the toy, may be simply as in Figs. 3 and 4, while in a better grade it may have a slanting extension, as 12 in Fig. 2, and in a still better grade a portion of the tube is a flexible hose, like 12 in Fig. 1, enabling the operator to more easily tilt the device during the operation of it, which is as follows:

A number of small marbles or other balls 13 are placed upon the bottom'2. The outer end of the blowpipe is placed between the lips of the operator. The vessel is then tilted by the hands until the balls one by one roll' into the guide 9, where it covers the aperture 10. The operator then blows the ball upward and moves the vessel so that the ball descends in the small inclosure 7, the object being to get all the balls gathered into that inclosure; but this is not very easily done, as the tilting -of the vessel in order to get the next ball over the aperture 10 is apt to cause the balls in the receptacle 7 to roll out of the gate 8 and even out of the ports 6, and thus return to the main vessel, from which they will then have to be blown upward again until they are all housed at one time in the inclosure '7.

In the modification or simplification Fig. 4 the only puzzle is to make all the balls gather in the shallow disk-like cavity 4*, as they are apt to either bump 01f when falling into the cavity or roll off when the vessel is tilted so as to move other balls in the vessel into the guide 9.

' Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat'- 'ent, is-

1. A toy or puzzle comprising in combination a shallow vessel, a tower or embossment in the middle of the vessel, a cavity in the top of the tower, an aperture in the bottom of the vessel near the tower, a blowpipe communicating "with the aperture from below, and balls adapted to be blown from the top of the aperture so as to drop into the cavity in the top of the tower, said tower having at one side a vertically-disposed groove or guide embracing with its lower end the wind-opening from which the balls are blown.

2. The combination with the pan or shallow vessel 1 of the blowpipe-opening'up through the bottom of the vessel, the tower 3 secured in the vessel near the wind-opening and having the guide 9, the top cavity4 with several side ports 6 in the sides thereof, and a series of balls adapted to be blown from the vessel 1 into the cavity 4.

3. The combination with the pan or shallow vessel 1 of the blowpipe-opening up through the bottom of the vessel, the tower 3 secured in the vessel near the wind-opening and having the guide 9, the top cavity 4 with several ports 6 in the sides thereof, the inclosure 7 within the cavity, and a series of balls adapted to be blown from the vessel 1 into the inclosure 7.

4. A toy or puzzle comprising a lower and a higher receptacle or vessel, balls placed therein, and a blowpipe arranged to blow the balls from the lower vessel upward so that 

